BYOR The Hollow Zoo
by Happy Feet
Summary: For BYOR Challenge to write what we think could or should be the first chapter of Book 6 HBP. Harry gets a special birthday surprise.


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Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all. I own nothing.

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Info: This is for the 'Be Your Own Rowling' competition at Dumbledores-Army(dot)net. My rendition of what the first chapter of Half-Blood Prince could be. One-shot.

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The Hollow Zoo

All was quiet down Privet Drive as the moon cast an eerie glow over the large, square houses. An occasional hoot of an owl would shatter the silence, but all would return to complete, silenced perfection soon after. At least, the citizens at Number 4, Privet Drive would consider their existence perfect... except for one small problem.

The problem for the residents of Number 4, Privet Drive was a bespectacled, thin, black-haired boy. His hair was not groomed properly, his clothes were too baggy, and he had, what those on Privet Drive called, an incurable handicap.

Harry Potter smiled slightly as he thought about the neighbors and if they could see him right now. He had taken out a few schoolbooks and was diligently doing homework. In Harry Potter's case, his homework was part of his so-called handicap. Being a wizard and living in the Muggle (non-magic folk) world was hard enough, but when the Muggles you lived with despised you for being you . . .

Harry shook his head; he had enough to worry about than to continue to think about the Dursleys. He could hear their loud, obnoxious snores through the house. Harry's uncle, Vernon Dursley, had the loudest snore followed by his cousin Dudley, and then his Aunt Petunia (her snores sounded a lot like a horse whinnying). Harry tried to ignore the snores vibrating through the house, but when he realized that he had only wrote one sentence about Fedora Figglehorthen - the infamous witch who chopped off the feet of wizards to create a potion of life (which only killed her in the end when she came across a foot with Athlete's Foot) - he gave up hope of finishing.

Harry let out a sigh and closed his _History of Magic_ textbook. There was no way that he could actually get ahead of the game when the Dursleys were still being rude, even during their sleep. Something he knew would make them very happy if he ever told them.

Before Harry's brain cleared itself of thought, he looked over at the clock. It was 12:47 in the morning... he had been sixteen for a whopping forty-seven minutes. He knew that when he woke up, he'd have a few packages from his friends at Hogwarts. The Dursleys, if they remembered at all, would probably just yell at him for even having a birthday.

It was at that very moment when a horrible thought came to him. There would be one person who he wouldn't hear from on his birthday. His godfather, Sirius Black, whom Harry had seen murdered right in front of his very eyes. Harry shook his head and quickly wiped away any tears that even dared to stain his cheeks. He had already mourned for Sirius, but it was hard to accept the fact that he truly was gone.

And, again, the Dursleys didn't help one bit. Opposed from Uncle Vernon's sneers in the morning, which Harry noted were starting to become almost as horrible as Professor Snape's (Harry least favorite teacher at Hogwarts); Dudley usually had something to say the morning after Harry had nightmares of Sirius and Cedric.

"Got two boyfriends now, do you?" That seemed to be Dudley's favorite line now. Harry usually just buttered his toast and would shoot back, "Ickle Diddykins better be very careful unless he doesn't want to eat ever again in his life."

Then Dudley would say how Harry wasn't allowed to use magic, and that they all knew that. Then Harry would say that he was bound for wizard prison (which would get a shudder from Aunt Petunia and make Uncle Vernon go purple in the face - the word 'wizard' was like a bomb waiting to explode) anyway and even if Harry himself didn't curse off Dudley's mouth, that Mad-Eye Moody certainly would. Harry knew that the Dursleys remembered Mad-Eye from meeting him at the train station after his fifth year - and saying that they were scared of Moody was a bit of an understatement. Usually after Harry brought up Moody, things would go smoothly throughout the rest of breakfast with Harry being completely ignored.

Harry ruffled his hair and sighed. Not wanting to even think about thinking, he turned onto his stomach and slowly drifted off into a restless sleep.

x x x x x

Harry woke up to the smell of bacon, and Hedwig pecking at his fingers.

"Okay," Harry muttered as he blinked open his eyes, putting on his glasses. "I'm up." Scratching Hedwig on the head, he noticed all the goodies lying on his windowsill. He couldn't help but smile.

There were three mince pies from Mrs. Weasley (who wrote Happy Birthday on all of them) and she had made him a red sweater with a Firebolt on the front of it. Harry's favorite teacher at Hogwarts, Hagrid, had sent him a dozen chocolate cupcakes, which Harry knew would taste like rocks, but he knew that he'd try one anyway. Harry noticed that he had four birthday cakes; one large cake and three rather small cakes. He figured the big one was from the Weasley's (he was right). Hermione, Neville and his grandmother, and... Harry's mouth dropped open. Luna? Luna had sent him a birthday wish? Harry smiled slightly, remembered the first time he had met Luna.

Harry noticed that Hermione, along with the sugar-free cake (Harry didn't need to read the paragraph where Hermione apologized for her parents being dentists) had given him a book, _Creatures of Magic and How They Help Wizard-kind_ by _Demonstre Iseatinme._

Harry unfolded Hermione's letter:

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Happy Birthday Harry!

I hope your birthday is the best. Of course, I don't want to ruin anything, but I know this book will definitely give you a hint. Oh, I am giving away too much. All I can say is that I will see you really soon!

I hope the cake is okay, mum wouldn't let me put real sugar in it for you. If you don't like it, I'm sure that cousin of yours is still trying to eat everything in sight. It might be fun to see him eat something slightly more healthy than usual.

I'll see you real soon, Harry. Don't let the Dursleys get you down!

Love,

Hermione

Harry, puzzled over the book and how it was a hint to having the best birthday ever, shook his head. He knew that Hermione would think that a book was the best gift ever. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gift, but he figured that Hagrid had better use for a book like that than he did.

Harry went to the next letter from his best friend Ron:

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Cheers Harry!

Getting right on up there in the years, aren't ya? Going to be an old fogey before you know it!

Mum, dad, and Ginny all send you Birthday wishes too. Fred and George said to party and give Dudley kisses from them, but Mum didn't want me to write that down, but I figured you'd want to know anyway.

Dad said he's going to call you on the telly-fone on your birthday. I was told to be discreet when writing you, but since nobody decided to tell me what that meant... I didn't know what all I was supposed to tell you or not. I guess the good thing is that all I know is that it is a big surprise. So - here's to your sixteenth birthday, mate!

Ron

Harry blinked after reading Ron's letter. So... he was going to be given a surprise for his birthday? Harry could barely contain his excitement. He was about to run downstairs to wait near the telephone, when he noticed another owl at his window. He opened it up and took the letter from the owl.

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Harry,

Hope your summer has been going well. All the staff here at Hogwarts wanted to wish you a very Happy Birthday.

We will see you soon,

Hogwarts Staff

Harry was really confused now. Three letters all saying that they would see him soon. And not that a letter from all of the teachers at Hogwarts was weird... but it... _was_.

Harry quickly enjoyed a decent breakfast of mince meat pie and one of Hagrid's cupcakes, which weren't too bad after you chewed them for five minutes. As soon as he was done, he loosened one of the floorboards of his room and piled the goodies in. He gave Hedwig a small helping of mince pie; she hooted gratefully and nipped at his finger.

"Thanks Hedwig," Harry muttered happily. It had to be the happiest he had felt in a long time... the last time he actually was happy was over a year ago, he recalled. Nothing from last year seemed to even have a glimmer of happiness attached to it.

Harry bounded down the stairs whistling, hoping to catch the Dursleys off-guard with his happiness. They all stared at him for a moment as he took a seat and smiled at them all.

"What are you on about, boy?" Vernon eyed Harry wisely. His double chins creasing as he turned to face Harry.

"Good morning to you, too," Harry laughed inwardly. Even if they knew that it was his birthday, they certainly were not going to wish him well.

"Toast, Harry?" Aunt Petunia put a plate down in front of Harry with only a half piece of toast. Harry thought it was funny that Petunia asked him like he actually had a choice between toast and something else.

"Thank you, Aunt Petunia." Harry buttered the half piece of toast and ate it slowly.

"Are you trying to be funny?" Vernon watched as Harry ate the piece of toast as if it were a juicy steak.

Just before Harry could respond the telephone rang. Harry ran to the phone and picked it up, he ignored his uncle's screams as he said, "Hello?"

"HARRY? HARRY!"

Harry smiled, "Yeah? You don't have to shout Mr. Weasley."

"OH! I mean, er... oh. How are you, Harry?" Mr. Weasley's voice lowered as Uncle Vernon ripped the receiver away from Harry.

"I THOUGHT I SAID THAT I DIDN'T WANT ANYMORE CALLS FOR YOU FROM THESE... THESE... THESE... WEIRDOS!" Vernon spat at Harry.

Harry thought he heard a distinct, "Weirdos?" from Mr. Weasley through the phone. He took the phone back from Uncle Vernon and began talking like the conversation hadn't been interrupted.

"I'm alright, though the Muggles-"

"DON'T TELL THEM-"

"VERNON!"

"PETUNIA!"

"He might get them to come over here," Petunia pleaded. "Please, just this once let him talk."

"PETUNIA!"

"VERNON!"

"HARRY! YOU ALRIGHT?" Mr. Weasley's voice shouted at them through the phone. Vernon and Petunia urged Harry to talk to Mr. Weasley.

"Tell him you are doing very well," Petunia nodded.

Harry, completely perplexed, went back to talking into the phone, "Yeah, I'm good. I'm allowed to talk to you now."

"Thank Merlin," Mr. Weasley sighed. "Listen, Harry, I've sent a car to pick you up. It should be getting to your house within the hour. Don't worry, it's a perfectly normal Muggle tact-ee car."

"Really?" Harry couldn't help but smile at how Mr. Weasley called a taxi a 'tact-ee'. "That's great, Mr. Weasley!"

"Harry, I won't get to see you today, work you know, but I'll definitely see you soon." There was a pause. "Oh, and Harry?"

"Yeah?" Harry could barely contain his excitement. In an hour he would be away from the Dursleys.

"Happy Birthday," and with that, they exchanged their goodbyes and Harry hung up the phone.

"Well, I have to pack. I'm leaving." Harry nodded to his aunt and uncle.

"Back to school so soon?" Petunia asked, timidly. Scared of the answer.

"Nope, some surprise. I don't even know what it is. Could be some wizard-" The Dursleys shuddered. "-convention where we all meet and talk about you lot."

x x x x x

Harry had packed and as soon as he had put Hedwig in her cage, the car that Mr. Weasley had sent for him was honking outside.

"BOY!" Vernon called for Harry. "HURRY UP BEFORE ALL THE NEIGHBORS SEE!"

Harry hurried down the stairs, lugging all of his things with him. The Dursleys didn't even offer to help, not that he thought too much about it. He was leaving, after all.

"Well, bye." Harry said as he opened the door. As Harry hurried to the car, he saw two figures sitting in the back. He paused slightly and saw the window roll down. Hermione's head popped out first, then Ron's head appeared behind Hermione's.

"Come on, Harry!" Ron yelled.

Harry smiled as the driver helped to put his stuff in the back. He glared at Hedwig when Harry asked if she could be put up front. But, the driver, didn't dare say no to a paying customer.

"It's great to see you guys!" Harry squeezed in between his two best friends.

"Harry, this is so exciting!" Hermione squealed. "Did you read that book yet?"

"Er..."

"I didn't think you had," Hermione waved her hand. "Which is even better, because now you'll really be surprised!"

"Harry, we're going to the zoo!" Ron exclaimed.

"The zoo?" Harry remembered the last time he'd been at the zoo. It was right before he had found out he was a wizard, when he had talked to the snake.

"Not one of those rubbish zoo's in the Muggle world," Hermione explained. "A magical zoo!"

Harry motioned up front to the driver. Hermione winked at Harry, "It's Tonks, Harry."

"Wotcher, Harry!" Harry watched as Tonks's form began to change.

"Still being escorted?" Harry sighed.

"Yeah, Remus tried to get here in time to take you, but he had other obligations." Tonks told him. She winked at Harry, scrunched up her nose, and then transformed back into the taxi driver.

"Harry... you'll really enjoy today. The zoo in Godric's Hollow only comes every one hundred years!" Ron exclaimed. "Very few people ever get to go to the Hollow Zoo in Godric's Hollow."

"It's in Godric's Hollow?" Harry remembered the name of the town.

"Yeah!" Ron exclaimed. "Bloody brilliant, isn't it?"

Harry smiled, the zoo obviously had to be great, or else Hermione and Ron wouldn't be so excited. This really was going to be the best birthday ever.

x x x x x

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Author's Notes: Harry is rather happy isn't he? Couldn't stand to see him so moody and upset. Ha! ZOO! I love the zoo. Thought it'd be cool to have them go to the zoo.

All I know is that the real chapter one is going to kick major arse, compared to mine. LOL.


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